Three's a Crowd
by Ayra Masae
Summary: Draco wants Ron, Harry loves Ron, and Ron is just confused... my first fic, so please read and review.
1. Default Chapter

Three's a Crowd

Chapter 1

It was hot- a day meant for nothing more than relaxing by the lake with a book and a bottle of pumpkin juice, which was exactly what Ron Weasley was doing.  Drink in hand, he was enjoying a bit of solitude in the lazy afternoon, having dropped all pretense of reading.  His book, _Advanced Quidditch Strategy,_ lay forgotten at his side. 

"Good afternoon, Weasley.  Enriching the mind as usual, I see?"  The clean, smooth voice that cut through the silence was Draco Malfoy's.  The boy had appeared behind Ron's shoulder without warning, and was now standing rather close to him, looking down at the redhead, one eyebrow raised.  Ron looked up, struck, not for the first time, by the beauty of the sixteen year-old boy before him.  The sun in his blond hair made a halo of golden light that framed his delicately sculpted face and set off his porcelain- pale skin.  His eyes were gray pebbles tossed for centuries by the sea, revealing no emotion.  Ron felt he could spend the rest of his life just looking into them. 

He jerked out of his reverie.  "Oh, hello Malfoy.  What're you doing out here?"  

"Not much.  I just thought I'd take a walk, you know?  Anyway, I'm a bit surprised to find you missing your other two heads.  May I join you?" 

"Sure."  Ron shifted slightly to the left, making room for Draco under the tree.  Like most of the people he knew, Ron was unsure of how to treat Draco.  The Slytherin had displayed outright hostility throughout their first four years at Hogwarts, until their fifth year, when he had displayed a short period of neutrality before he gradually began dating his way around Gryffindor tower.  In just over a year he had been seen at the fireside with Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnegan and Harry Potter.  The last relationship had ended badly after Draco had had a drunken  one-night stand with Ron's sister, Ginny.  There had been a rather nasty shouting match over breakfast in the Great Hall the morning after, and a few bystanders had fallen victim to Harry's violently heaved toast.  

Now Ron was mildly upset with himself for not sending Draco packing with a few barbed remarks, but the fact was that over the past year or so, once Draco had learned to lay off the Weasley family finances, Ron had come to respect him as intelligent, funny and wickedly good looking.  In fact, he could almost say that he liked him.  Not in that way, of course.  It was a well-established rule that one did not date one's best friend's ex, no matter how gorgeous the prospect in question.  

Draco broke the somewhat awkward silence that had fallen between them.  

"Hope you'll forgive my speechlessness Weasley, I'm just a little stunned to find you alone."

"Oh yes, well when I tactfully reminded Harry and Hermione that tomorrow is my birthday, they both looked alarmed and went dashing towards Hogsmeade."

"Your two best friends forgot your birthday?"

"Well, it's quite understandable."  Ron swallowed, still convincing himself of the idea.  "I mean, Harry's been incredibly busy with quidditch trials for next year, and Hermione is working more madly than usual, doing research for some secret project of McGonagall's. This morning was the first time I've really seen them all week."

Draco shrugged.  "You're certainly taking it well.  If my friends forgot my birthday, I'd be livid."  

"Well, Harry's had a lot on his mind.  I mean, he's been a little less of his usual self ever since you two…"  Ron looked at his hands, suddenly aware of the thin ice that he was skating on. 

"Since a mistake was made, your sister's reputation was damaged and a few innocents were assaulted mercilessly by his toast and jam?"

"Something like that, yeah."  Ron felt a small thrill run up his spine as he realized how close to Draco he really was.  

"Well, rest assured that it's given me a great deal of pain as well, so he needn't be so melodramatic." Damn, but the boy was magnificent.  

"He's not melodramatic, he's depressed!"

The blond boy sighed.  In an effort to change the subject, he picked up Ron's book, which was lying between them on the new grass.  "_Advanced Quidditch Strategy_," he read from the cover.  "Still Potter's unofficial assistant, Ron?"  He leafed through the book aimlessly.

Ron's ears pricked up at the sound of his first name, but he made no mention of it.  "Not unofficial anymore.  I'm the new Strategic Co-captain.  I quite like it, really, and I never was much on a broomstick."  He watched as the pale, slender hands of his former enemy moved over the pages, delicately and gently, almost reverently.

Draco smiled at Ron and set the book down on his far side, narrowing the space between the two of them.  He said something that Ron didn't hear, so enthralled was he by the face before him.  He was aware of nothing except the sound of his own breath and the fierce beating of his heart as his eyes met the gray ones, and the face with its rose-soft lips and  captivating eyes, now coursing with emotion, moved closer and closer to his own.  

Ron shut his eyes and met the lips of his former enemy, first softly, tasting each other, feeling the sweetness of the kiss.  Draco's lips were even softer than they had looked, but were hardly timid.  Ron felt a sudden hunger rise within him, a need for fulfillment, and he kissed Draco harder, more passionately.  The other boy matched him passion for passion, the urgency building between them.  Ron felt Draco's tongue slide between his lips, flickering along them, teasing and playing.  Ron countered by sending his tongue to trace the other boy's lips, memorizing their taste and texture.  The whole world flew away for the two boys, and they lived a thousand lifetimes in this single, perfect kiss.

After a few unbearably wonderful moments, Draco broke away.  

"Now, now, you know as well as I that this is neither the time nor the place."  He smiled crookedly at Ron.  "Don't look so disappointed."  He handed Ron his book, winking impishly.  "Happy reading."

Ron watched him walk away, his gait as graceful and well-balanced as a cat's.  He sighed, repeating to himself the mantra about not dating the ex of a friend, and opened the book.  A folded slip of parchment fell out.   

After checking to see that no one was watching, Ron somewhat cautiously unfolded it.  In a neat and artful script, someone had written:

_Meet me tonight- fifth floor of the Astronomy Tower.  There's a disused classroom to your right as you come up the stairs.  11:55.  Be on time if you want your birthday present.  _

_-DM._

Ron stared at it, digesting it slowly.  He closed the book and stared out across the lake smiling, his mind swimming with new possibilities.  


	2. Three's a Crowd Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The sun that had blazed so fiercely over Hogwarts was baking Harry and Hermione as they wandered aimlessly through Hogsmeade.  

"Let's try that joke shop you like," said Hermione, grabbing Harry by the wrist and dragging him toward Zonko's.  

"No, I don't think so," said Harry despondently.  

Hermione sighed.  "Well, do you have _any_ idea of what to give him then?"

It was Harry's turn to sigh as he looked sheepishly at his feet, his always-untidy hair falling down to cover his emerald eyes.  

"Well, let's at least get a drink, all right?" suggested Hermione with a touch more tenderness.  Harry shrugged and they ambled off toward the Three Broomsticks.  Once inside, Hermione found them a table and went to fetch drinks.  She returned a few moments later with two clinking glasses filled with a pale orange bubbling liquid.  

"What's that?"  asked Harry.

"One of my favorites- lemonade and orange.  Simple, yet refreshing."  She sat down across from Harry and shoved a glass at him, which he took somewhat numbly.  "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"About _you_ Harry.  What is wrong?"  The last few days you've been nothing but unhappy, dragging around, looking glumly at your feet, not even getting interested in quidditch or Ron's birthday or anything."

"I _am_ interested."

"Well, you've adopted a funny way of showing it."

"No, it's just… I've got other things on my mind."

"Like Ron, for example?"

Harry started, alarmed.  "What?!?"

"Like Ron, I said.  Do you need your hearing tested or something?"

"Hermione, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous.  I can always tell when you're in love.  You get that same slightly stupid look around him that you used to get around that girl, Cho, that you liked for so long."

"Don't get clever Hermione, or I'll show you how _you_ used to look when you were around Ron last year."

Hermione blushed slightly.  "Yeah, well, I've got one on you," she said slyly.  "At least I've kissed him."  

"Yeah, well I've seen him naked," countered Harry, matching his friend's coy smile. 

"Only in the showers!"

"So?  Bare is bare in my book."  They collapsed into foolish giggling, realizing who they were talking about.  

"Seriously now," said Hermione recovering her dignity after a few moments.  "Just tell me:  are you in love with him?"

Harry looked down at his drink.  "Yes."  

Hermione sat back, tucking a loose strand of her curly hair behind one ear.  "Well, what do you intend to do about it?"  

"I don't know.  I don't suppose there's much I can do."

"There's plenty," said Hermione, attacking the problem as though it were astronomy homework.  "Firstly, you can figure out if he feels the same way about you."   

"How do I do that?"

"I'm not really sure.  You could ask him."

Harry looked at her flatly.

"All right, all right then, don't get your knickers in a twist."  Hermione paused.  "I could ask him."

"No, don't do that.  It'd be silly."

"It wouldn't.  I'd just ask him who he currently fancies."

"Hermione, no."

"Why not?"

"Because… I think he fancies Malfoy."

Hermione was briefly stunned, but had the tact not to show it.  She reached a hand across the table to hold Harry's in a gesture of tenderness rarely seen in her.  "I'm sorry Harry,"  she said somewhat more softly.  

"It's all right,"  said Harry, sitting up straighter and taking his hand back.  "Ron will get over him.  Everyone does, eventually."

~*~*~*~*~*~

At 11:50, Ron slipped out of bed and deftly borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak before making his way silently through the sleeping school.  The corridors always seemed so much larger at night, and so deafeningly still.

At 11:56, he arrived in the disused classroom in Draco's note.  He was shocked at first to find it empty.    Everybody knew that if Draco Malfoy asked you to meet him somewhere at night, it was a serious offer and the pleasures awaiting you were beyond refusal.  And yet, the room appeared to be deserted.  Ron dropped the cloak and stood very still, unsure of what to do.  

"You're late Weasley," said a cool voice form the shadows.  

Ron jumped about a foot in the air.  "Malfoy?" 

A magical fire sprung up in the hearth, its golden light casting into relief the shape and face of the blond boy to whom Ron had spoken earlier.  He moved across the room slowly to Ron, who stood rooted to the spot.  "Um… how'd you get that note into my book?"

Draco waved an elegant hand disdainfully.  "Sleight of hand has been a hobby of mine since I was a child."

"Really?"

"Your brothers are not the only ones who find muggle 'magic' useful."  By this time he was very close to Ron, their bodies separated by mere inches of air.  Draco was a bout four inches shorter ('the same height as Harry' thought Ron) than his flame-haired counterpart, and he bent his head back to look into Ron's face.  "Well, Ron," he said, his voice smooth and glistening with seduction, "don't you want your birthday present?" 

Without waiting for a reply he gripped Ron's shoulders and pulled him down into a deep kiss.  His lips seemed to have increased in their softness since the afternoon, although this time they were far less timid.  Ron answered readily, taking as much of Draco as his lips could handle.  His tongue slid forward into the other boy's mouth, and they dueled viciously.  The room seemed to be getting warmer as their passion increased; both of them were definitely wearing far too many clothes.  

Ron could feel sure hands move to unbutton his robes, which in a moment slid to the floor in a silent black pool.  He broke the kiss for a moment so that he could do the same, being far less adept at undressing another person.  

When both boys were down to their trousers, Draco moved closer to wrap one arm around Ron's neck and the other around his chest.  He moved as though to kiss him again, but at the last moment his mouth swerved to the right and began kissing and biting a trail down Ron's neck.  A hand moved deftly to make small circles around the nipple.  Ron moaned deep in his throat, letting his head fall to the side exposing more neck to be tasted, feeling waves of white-hot electricity breaking over him.  

Without realizing it, Ron had been maneuvered over to a pile of luxurious blue and black blankets by the fireplace.  The fabrics glowed softly in the light, an inviting nest of silks and soft down filling.  Draco removed his clean, pressed trousers before turning his attention to Ron's.  The flame-haired boy watched his clothing being slowly and ceremoniously removed, feeling desire course through him as though his blood had been replaced with hit, sweet wine.  

Draco knelt before him kissing, licking, his tongue playing intimate games all over Ron's now naked body.  Ron let his head fall back and a moan escape his soft lips that were glistening in the warmth of the firelight.  

Then he felt the sure hands of his partner guide, pull, push him down towards the blankets.  Ron lay down upon them, letting his body get to know every texture that it touched before Draco laid down on him, and all was lost.  

~*~*~*~*~*~

Too soon, it was over, and Ron felt Draco retreating from him as their breathing returned to normal and their eyes and minds cleared.  The blond boy moved off of Ron, who was still lying on his back, staring into the fire and steadying himself after the most intense emotional rush of his entire life.  Draco settled himself between him and the fire, his eyes and face aglow with sweat and sex. 

"Happy birthday, Ron," he said.  He picked up Ron's right hand and kissed each fingertip sensually.  The he kissed the back of the hand and returned it to its owner.  "Now, go on back to your tower and gat some rest.  You've a big day ahead of you." 

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Guess what happened to me last night."  Ron fairly leapt into his seat beside Hermione at the breakfast table on the morning of his birthday.  He was secretly relieved to find that breakfast almost over, and Hermione was one of only four or five Gryffindors still eating.  He also sighed secretly in relief that Harry wasn't there; he somehow doubted that Harry would have been pleased to hear of Ron's adventures of the night before.  

"What?"  Hermione barely looked up from her book and orange juice.

Ron leaned in close so that no one else would hear.  "I had sex with Draco Malfoy."

Hermione choked briefly.  "You're joking," she spluttered after a moment of confused hacking.

"Am not."  Ron leaned back proudly.

"Did you really, seriously, honest-and-truly have Malfoy last night?"

"I did."

Hermione grew pale.  "I don't believe it."

"I know."  Ron had lost none of his glee.  "Hey, do you think I should tell Harry?"

"No."  Hermione's answer nearly cut him off.   "Definitely not." She rose, gathering her things.

"You all right, Hermione?"

"Fine.  Erm… I have to go."  She started to go, then turned back to Ron for a moment.  "Oh, I almost forgot.  Happy birthday, Ron."  


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Hey Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen my invisibility cloak?"

Ron froze where he was stretched out on his four-poster bed, reading.  "Uh…no."

Harry sighed and continued to dig through his trunk.  "Are you sure?"

"I think so. What do you need it for?"  Ron got up to help, his insides burning with guilt.  

"I was going to go visit Hagrid, maybe go for a walk or something.  I don't know…"  He trailed off, his eyes fixed forward.  

"Harry, are you all right?"

Harry started.  "Uh, yeah, I'm fine.  Just… got a lot on my mind, you know?"  He looked at Ron, smiling weakly.  His emerald eyes were filled with emotion, but somehow unreadable.  

Ron's conscience got the better of him.  With a sigh, he bent and pulled the cloak out from under his bed.  "Here you go, Harry," he said, offering it toward his friend.  

"Ron, did you have it?"

"Yeah."

"You know you're welcome to it."

"Yeah."

"So why did you lie about having it?"

Ron gulped, eyes fixed on his feet.  He tried to think of a way to tell Harry without hurting him.  He looked up at his friend, his eyes apologetic.  

"Ron, are you seeing someone?"

Ron nodded.  Harry pressed further.  

"Who?"

After a moment, Ron answered.  "Draco.  Er- Malfoy, I mean."

He watched as despair flooded Harry's face.  "Oh, Ron…"

Ron was suddenly angry.  "Oh nothing!  You dumped him. Remember?  You've stripped yourself of ownership.  He isn't yours, he's mine, and if-"

"He's not yours."

"Yes he is.  He is mine and I'm his."

"You're his nothing.  You're his pleasure, his fuck in the night, his… his revenge."

Ron stood as if he had been slapped.  "How _dare_ you…"

"You know it's true, Ron."

"No, you're wrong.  You're just angry because he hurt you and because he wants me instead of you.  You're upset because the most wanted boy at Hogwarts chose nobody Ron Weasley over the famous Harry Potter, _for once._"

"Ron, he's using you.  I humiliated him by dumping him in public, and now he's just with you so that he can hurt me."

Ron's eyes blazed.  "Harry, you're pathetic.  Do you really think that everything, my personal life included, revolves around you?  Has fame gone so far to your head?  I'm disgusted."  He threw the invisibility cloak at Harry's feet and stormed out of the dormitory.  A few minutes later, Harry donned the cloak and headed out into the grounds, struggling not to cry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Draco?"

"Yes?"  It was well after midnight and Ron and Draco were stretched out facing each other on the pile of blankets in the disused classroom having spent the last hour "bathing in the rivers of paradise" as Ron had once heard it described.

"Are you… I mean, am I… are we…"  Ron floundered, unsure of how to phrase his question.

"You want to know if you're just another multiple-night stand, don't you."  To Ron's relief, Draco didn't seem offended.  

"Well, yeah."

Draco looked at his hand, which was running up and down Ron's side, stroking the rarely-touched skin with all of his natural delicacy.   "Why do you ask?"  He looked at Ron's face now.  "Don't you trust me, Ron?"

"Well, of course I do.  But, well, Harry found out about us."

Draco's eyes flickered.  "Did he?"

"Yeah.  And he said some really horrible things about you, and I said some things to him that I really regret now, and then I stormed off."  Ron looked at the floor, his insides burning with shame at having so mercilessly assaulted his best friend.  

"What did he say?"

"He said that you were just using me to get revenge on him for humiliating you when you two split up."  

Draco was silent for a moment.

"But it can't be true, can it?"  Ron continued.  "I mean, why would you being with me hurt Harry so much?  What's it to him who I sleep with?"

"He's in love with you," said Draco, almost to himself.  

"What?"

"Harry's in love with you, Ron.  I can't believe it took me so long to put it together."

"How would you know who Harry loves?"

Draco sat up, eyes fixed on Ron's face.  "When did you say you had your shouting match?"

"This afternoon."

"Well listen.  I ran into Harry just before dinner.  He was sitting under that tree by the lake looking utterly destroyed, and when I went over to talk to him, he told me off loudly about using you, just like you said."

Ron sat up now, too.  "Oh Christ."

"Yeah I know.  It's a bit awkward for me, really.  And for you."

"How so?"

"Ron, don't be angry, but I… well I hadn't really intended for us to last."

Ron's face fell.  He was speechless with shock and fury.  He had thought that Draco had really cared about him, that he had been in love.  Ron had been in love with Draco, or at least he thought so.  "How could you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Everything!  Kiss me, fuck me, all of this.  Jesus, do you really mean that these past weeks were an act?"

"They weren't an act Ron!  I genuinely wanted you.  You're very attractive, in a quiet, gangling sort of way."  He turned away.  "But I knew we couldn't last."  Draco dropped the last of his usual dignity, looking at the blankets underneath him and sighing deeply.  Ron watched him, less angry but more perplexed.

"But Draco, I'm in love with-"

"Harry.  You're in love with Harry."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't see how you could not be.  You may want me, but so do a lot of people.  But there's something in your voice when you talk about him, something in your eyes when you think of him that says loud and clear that you love him more than you could say."

Ron was stunned.  He had never heard anything so truthful in his life.  In a moment his entire past with Harry pieced itself together, forming an almost unbearably clear picture of what he suspected he had known all along.  He loved Harry.

Ron moved his hand slowly over to Draco's face, which he turned up to his.  "I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Don't be.  You've nothing to be sorry for."  Draco was suddenly brisk.  The two got up and put on their clothes in silence, facing away from each other.  Then they turned and stood for a moment, face to face in the gentle firelight.  Draco tilted his head upwards and kissed Ron lightly and briefly on the lips.  "Take care of Harry for me," he whispered, and was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ron didn't remember walking up to Gryffindor tower, or climbing the stairs to the boys' dormitory.  All he knew was that suddenly he was standing beside Harry's bed, watching his black-haired friend as he slept, his breath traveling in and out in a slow, easy rhythm.  

Ron changed into his pajamas and, after a moment's hesitation, slid quietly into bed beside Harry.  He curled himself around his sleeping friend, who stirred.  

"'S that you, Ron?"  He asked sleepily, not opening his eyes.  Ron slid his arms around Harry and pulled him close.  The feeling of his friend's solidity, of another loving body next to his was a new sensation to Ron, more wonderful than anything he had felt in his entire life, and he gave his friend a gentle hug.  

"Yeah, it's me," he whispered, kissing Harry lightly on the cheek.

Harry smiled, his eyes still closed.  "Good," he said, and fell asleep.

   
  



	4. Chapter 4

[Insert standard disclaimer here]  

This fic was originally destined to be only 3 chapters long, but due to a large volume of requests (and some miscommunications on my part), I'm extending it. Please bear with any glaring inconsistencies, I'm trying to work around them without making all the characters seem like total pricks.  

Chapter 4

The first thing Harry saw when he opened his eyes was a blurry patch of what appeared to be someone's flaming red hair.  He blinked and reached for his glasses.  It couldn't be...

"Ron?"

Ron stirred and rolled over to face his friend.  "Good morning Harry."

"Ron, what are you doing here?"    

"I don't really know.  I mean, I know it's forward of me-"

"I should say so."

"-But I have to tell you something."

Harry sighed and sat up, leaning back against the headboard with the blankets pulled up over his knees.  Ron took a moment to admire the mess of black hair adorning Harry's delicate yet muscular body.  Emerald eyes flashed at him.  

"Well, go ahead, but get out of my bed first."

Ron was slightly hurt by the edge on Harry's voice.  "What's wrong?"

"I'll explain if you explain."

Ron crawled out from under the covers and seated himself opposite Harry, who marveled inwardly that Ron could look so amazing first thing in the morning.  His coppery hair was tousled and unkempt in the most irresistible way, the exact way Harry had always thought it would look after someone's hands had run through it several times.  His hands fairly itched to feel the soft strands slide between his fingers, to explore the gentle curves around his jaw line and to find out if the patch of creamy skin revealed at the open neck of Ron's pajamas was as soft as it looked.  

"Well, I was with Draco last night, and we were talking about you and me and that fight we had yesterday, and I realized... Harry..." his voice had gotten slightly husky.  "I'm in love with you."

  


Harry didn't move.  

"Harry, did you hear me?  I'm in love-"

"I heard you."  Silence for a moment.  And then, "Ron, who do you think you are?"

"What?"  This was not going to plan at all.

"Who do you think you are?  You sleep with my ex-boyfriend even though you know I'm still hurting from the relationship, you insult me to my face, and then you think you can just crawl into my bed that night and everything's okay because you happen to be in love with me?"

"But Harry, I..."

"You what?  You're sorry?  You made a terrible mistake?  You didn't mean for this to happen and if you could go back and do it over you promise you wouldn't do it this way?  I've heard it before, Ron."

"You've left me with nothing to say, Harry."  Ron's voice was held a mixture of bitterness and regret.  "All the things I was going to tell you have been ruled invalid."

"You can't understand a moment of loss because, hey, you're the fabulous Ron Weasley, already the luckiest boy in the world.  You've got everything, Ron.  You're intelligent, sexy, funny as hell, you've got a wonderful family that accepts you no matter what, and you're the best friend I could ever wish for.  You're incredibly fortunate."  

"God, Harry..."

"Not only that, but everyone, and I do mean everyone, wants you."

"Don't joke with me now, Harry."

"I'm not joking.  Do you have any idea how widely admired you are?  I could name half a dozen people who have come up to me over the years, wondering if you're interested or if I could introduce you or something."

"That's ridiculous."

"But it's true."  Harry looked at his hands.  "You don't realize how much people want you.  I mean, has anyone ever refused you?"

"Well, there was that girl, Fleur something in the fourth year..."

"Ron, she's a fucking veela.  I'm talking seriously.  Has there ever been anyone who has said no to you?"

  


"Harry, what's your point?"

"My point is that romantically speaking you've always had everyone you've wanted."

"So?"

"So?  So you can't treat me like this.  You can't go around sleeping with people and then telling other people you love them."  Harry sighed and blinked, a ragged edge to his voice.  "Ron, you mean the world to me, but I can't let you treat me like this.  I know it wasn't intentional... I know you and I know you wouldn't do something like that.  But we can't start a relationship like this, not with one, if not both, of us already in pain."

"So what are you saying?"  A gravelly tone crept into the bottom of Ron's voice.  

"I'm saying I need some time.  Are you forgetting how we fought yesterday?  I can't let us being what is supposed to be a loving, caring relationship by establishing a pattern of fighting and fixing it by crawling into each others' beds.  We're only going to get hurt."  

There was a silence as Ron digested his friend's words.  "God," he began.  "I don't know what to say.  I wish I could fix this, Harry, but I wouldn't know how to begin.  I'm sorry about the things I said to you yesterday- they were completely unfair and uncalled for.  You were right about everything.   I'm sorry."

"It's alright.  I know you were angry, and you had every right to be.  But I can't just forgive and forget right away.  I need time."

"All right.  But... do you know how much time?"

Harry looked at him, thrown by such a seemingly callous question.  

"What I mean is," said Ron, "that I am in love with you Harry, and I'm willing to wait for you until the end of time as long as I know that I'm not waiting in vain.  I know you're unhappy now, but do you think you could ever want to be with me?"

Harry sighed.  "I'm not sure yet.  You're amazing, Ron, and I'm fairly sure I'm in love with you too, but I guess I'm just afraid of getting hurt and losing you completely.  I don't want to rush into this... there's too much at stake.  I just need some time to think about this, and I think you should also take some time and really consider.  I want to be sure it's the right thing.  Do you understand?"  Tears clung to the edge of Harry's voice.  He swallowed, willing the lump in his throat to dissolve.  

Ron nodded silently.  He looked at his hands, blinking hard. 

"All right.  Um... I need to take a shower."  Harry fairly flew out of the room toward the showers, leaving Ron alone in the dormitory.  

  


***      *            *            *            *            *            *            *

_Several weeks later:_

Draco stood alone under a tree by the lake, watching the water ripple gently as the giant squid approached the surface, seemed to think better of it, and sank again.  A late afternoon breeze ruffled his golden hair.  Gray eyes were emotionless, their owner thousands of miles away, thinking.  

Draco was unsure of whether he had really done the right thing by letting Weasley get away.  Usually he forgot about a fling within a few days, if that.  But Weas- er- Ron- was different.  His eyes still flew to the redhead's face every time he walked into a room, and he still had to pay attention to where he was looking to make sure that no one caught him staring at a certain tall, brown-eyed boy at the Gryffindor table.  

He had caught himself watching Ron again yesterday, during dinner, admiring the way his large, expressive hands moved when he talked.  It was as though he was forming the words in the air, sculpting them into being as he spoke.  He had only realized that he was staring when Ron looked over at him.  Their eyes had locked for a moment, and a strange energy had been exchanged in their glance.  Draco was still trying to understand what it meant.  

And today, during Potions.  Ron was shredding four-leaf clovers, talking about something with Hermione.  Draco was also shredding clovers, although somewhat absently- his attention was occupied by the red-haired boy across the room.  Ron's laugh rang out suddenly across the dungeon; Draco felt a catch somewhere in his torso when he saw the crooked, mischievous smile and the daring light in Ron's eyes.  It was only a moment before Professor Snape swooped down to silence him.  A few minutes later, as Ron turned to ask Seamus and Harry a question, his eyes had caught Draco's.  This time it wasn't just a strange energy that passed between them; a bolt of electricity seemed to leap across the room from Ron to Draco and back again.  He could see Ron catch his breath and turn quickly back to his cauldron as he did the same. 

Perhaps... no. Draco stopped the thought before it had the chance to form fully in his mind.  And anyway, wasn't Ron with Harry now?  They were theoretically in love with each other, although Draco had detected none of the usual signs of a relationship between them.  They weren't even working together in classes.  If anything, in fact, they seemed almost more distant than usual.  Not hugely so, but it was noticeable to the keen observer.  Had something happened?  Had something- Draco smirked- not happened?  Perhaps Draco had been wrong in thinking that Harry was in love with Ron.  Perhaps... perhaps he had been wrong about Ron too...

Draco was shaken from his reverie by the sound of approaching footsteps.  He turned to see Ron moving nervously across the grass, coming toward the tree.  He stopped a few feet from his target.  

"Hi," he said.

  


"Hello, Ron."  

They stood in silence for a moment.  Then Draco spoke.  

"You're awfully quiet for someone who is obviously here on a mission," he said.

"Well, I was trying to think of how to begin, but I don't know how."

"Ah.  Is there any way I can help?"  

"Could you maybe furnish some conversation for a couple of minutes?"

"Certainly."  A pause.  "So, what's going on with you and Harry?"  

Ron was taken aback by Draco's ability to deliver such a weighted question as though it were perfectly harmless.  He looked at the blond's face more closely, trying to read some sort of emotion in it but coming up empty.

"Nothing."  

It was Draco's turn to be taken aback.  "But I though you two were in love."

"Theoretically, yes."  

A blond eyebrow raised itself artfully.

"You remember that last night we were together?"  

Draco sighed inwardly at the memory.  Never before had he had such deliciously wonderful sex.  There was something about those brown eyes and sure hands that made it truly magical.  "Yes, I do, in fact."

"Well, I talked to Harry the next morning.  He said that he was in love with me, but that he's afraid of losing our friendship and getting hurt, which I have to respect.  He told me that he needed time to make up his mind."

"Has he?"

Ron looked at his feet and swallowed.  "He has.  Last night.  He told me that he couldn't do it, that we would hurt each other too much, that it wasn't worth risking our friendship, and that he... he said that he loves someone else." 

"I'm sorry."

  


"It's alright.  He's right... we would be awful for each other in the long run.  And I... I have some things I need to sort out anyway."  Ron looked up at Draco, their eyes meeting.  The same hot electricity passed between them, and suddenly Draco knew what it meant.  He stepped forward and took Ron's hands.  Ron gasped, but before he could say anything or pull away, Draco's lips were pressing into his, feeling the familiarity and yet a newness that had not been there before.  Ron suddenly found himself kissing the other boy back, tasting him again, feeling renewal wash through him accompanied by another, less familiar but more wonderful feeling.  Their lips were not dueling, nor were they exploring.  They were simply expressing something that they could not understand but wanted to know more about.  It was a truly magnificent kiss.

Before he knew what he was doing, Ron pulled back and looked Draco in the eyes.  

"I love you," he said.  

*          *            *            *            *

This is when I torture you all by refusing to tell what Draco says until the next chapter. *gleeful chuckle*


	5. Chapter 5

[Insert standard disclaimer here.]

Once again, I'm completely making this up as I go, so all the usual tolerance is in order, if you don't mind.  Thanks.

Chapter 5

"What?" 

"I love you."  

"That's ridiculous."  

Ron's face fell.  "It's not ridiculous, Draco.  I really do love you."

"Stop saying that!."

"But it's true!  Why can't you understand me?  I love you!"  Ron was shouting now.  

"Stop!"  Draco let go of Ron's hands, almost pushing him as he turned away.  

"What's wrong?"

"God, Weasley, you're fucking ridiculous."  He turned to look at Ron's shocked, pain-filled face.  His voice became more sympathetic as his expression softened.  "How can you love me?  We were together for such a short time, and we sure as hell didn't spend too much time baring our souls in loving conversation.  And then you decide you love Harry and you run off for a while, and four weeks later you tell me you love me.  How can that be, Ron?  It doesn't make any sense."

"Have you been asleep?"  Ron's voice gained the strength of conviction as he spoke.  "Yes, I decided I liked Harry.  Decided.  I've been thinking about this a lot, Draco.  I'm not just speaking on a whim.  I was scared when I left you.  I could feel myself falling for you, and I didn't want-" 

"You didn't want a repeat of Harry's experiences with me?"

"Well, partly, yes."  Draco sneered.  Ron rushed to his own defense.  "Hey, I'm trying to be honest here.  I was afraid of hurting Harry, too.  I wasn't ready to risk his friendship on something almost completely unknown to me."

"I can understand that.  I mean, I don't have the most shining reputation in the world."

"And, I mean, what if I wasn't good enough?  What if I couldn't cut it?  What if I couldn't keep a steady relationship with you, or with anyone?  I never really have, you know.  I couldn't stand the idea of losing Harry and then losing you as well."

  


"So you ran away."  Draco's emotions had retreated again behind his usual, impassive mask.  His face and voice were now devoid of emotion, completely unreadable.  

"Don't do that!  Don't just hide behind the Malfoy poise!  I know you're feeling something, and I'll be damned if I don't have a right to know what it is."

"You have no such right.  You have mercilessly dragged my emotions through the mud in the last two months, and I have had to work very hard just to keep it together while this was happening.  I personally think it's a very bad idea to tell you anything about how I feel, given the way you've treated me."

"You know, you're the one who said that you never wanted us to last.  You're the one who just wanted a fuck, okay?  I think we're pretty equally at fault here."

"Fair enough."  

They stood in silence for a while, not really looking at each other.

"You're right though," said Ron after a moment.  "I did run away.  I- I suppose I didn't know what else to do."  He took a deep breath.  "Draco, I'm sorry.  I'm sorry about the way I've treated you, I'm sorry for everything that's happened."

"It's alright.  It's understandable, in a way."  He paused.  "I suppose this is when I apologize for treating you as I did.  I'm sorry, Ron."

"Don't worry about it."

The sun was setting low over the mountains in the distance, lighting the lake with its fiery rays.  The gently rippling surface of the water reflected the orange and red lights of the sky, making them dip and sway slowly in an ancient, sacred dance.  Far away in the forest a bird called into the early twilight.

Draco broke the silence.  "Did you mean it?"  He asked. 

"Mean what?"

"When you said you loved me?"

A moment's pause.  "Yeah, I think I did."

Another moment.  "Really?"

"Yes."  

"Wow.  Ron, I don't know what to say.  No one has ever said that to me before."

  


"Really?"  

"Well, not that I can remember, anyway.  You know... the 'Malfoy poise' and all that."

"Oh.  Well, what do you think of it?"

"I'm not sure.  I know that I like you a lot, Ron.  You can't have missed the way I've been looking at you.  I... God, I just can't stop thinking about you."

"I can't stop thinking of you, either."

"But I don't know if I love you, at least not yet.  I don't really know what love feels like, but I've been told that I'll know it when I feel it.  I don't know if I love you, Ron, but... I'd like to find out."

Ron smiled.  "What does that mean?" 

"It means," Draco sighed, and stepped forward, taking Ron's hands in his own.  "That I'd like to give us another try, only a real relationship this time, not just sneaking up to the astronomy tower in the middle of the night.  I want to see if what I'm feeling is the beginning of something real."  He looked down at their feet, now inches apart, and sort of laughed.  "Damn.  I'm really scared, Ron.  For the first time in my life I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing."

Ron dropped Draco's hands and pulled the blond boy close to him.  "It's all right.  I've never really done this before, either."

Draco wrapped his arms around Ron's waist and they stood together in the fading light, feeling a closeness they had never experienced before.  Ron buried his face in Draco's silken hair and inhaled deeply.  The boy smelled clean and fresh, like a spring morning. Draco tilted his head up to look Ron full in the face.

"Did you just smell my hair?"  

Ron blushed. "Well, yeah, I guess I did.  It smells very nice, you know."  

Draco chuckled softly, and they smiled into each others' eyes for a moment.  Before he realized what he was doing, Ron's eyes had closed and his head had tilted to the side.  Suddenly his lips collided with Draco's.  It was a soft kiss, gentle and loving and sweet.  There was no heated passion, no hands running everywhere, no tongues exploring.  There was affection, simplicity, and love.  Ron broke the kiss and hugged Draco close to him, his embrace returned by the other boy.  

"Hey Ron," said Draco quietly.  

"Yes?"

  


"I think I love you too."

The End.

*          *            *            *            *            *            *

Well, that's all, folks.  I don't know if continuation made it any better, or if it made any sense at all.  Hopefully in my next fic, Ron will be somewhat less confused.  R&R, please, as this is my debut piece, and I'm looking for comments.  Thanks a lot!

Look for my original fiction at www. FictionPress.net, same pen name.  


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